WVBE
WVBE, channel 38, is a dual affiliate of MyTV and MyNetworkTV in Port St. Lucie, Florida, that also serves the city of Fort Pierce. The station was owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation. WVBE's studios are located in Port St. Lucie, near the west end of the Gandy Bridge (located about a mile from the studios of CBS affiliate WPSL, the only other Fort Pierce station whose operations are based in Port St. Lucie, and its transmitter is located in Fort Pierce. On July 21, 2016, CBS Corporation sold the station to Adelphia Communications, who in turn, turned over operations to Clear Channel Communications. Clear Channel added a MyTV affiliation to the station, and since Adelphia owns a share of MyTV, WVBE is considered a MyTV O&O (owned and operated) affiliate. On cable, WVBE can be seen throughout the Fort Pierce area on Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS channel 4, and on Comcast channel 9. History Early years WVBE-TV began operations on April 7, 1976 as an independent station. It was originally owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. Initially, WVBE ran a lineup of older movies, some low-budget syndicated programs, a few off-network westerns and sitcoms, and some cartoons. The station had broadcast for about eight hours a day. In the station's early days, its slogan was "Quality Television", which was made famous by a 1970s station identification package. WVBE caught on with viewers immediately. For the rest of the 1970s into the early 1980s, WVBE was the only independent station in the Port St. Lucie area. During the 1970s, WVBE gradually expanded its programming hours: by 1977, the station signed on at 10:30 a.m. on weekdays and around 1 p.m. on weekends. By 1978, WVBE signed on the air daily by 7 a.m. Gradually, WVBE added better sitcoms, more cartoons, off-network dramas, and better movies. While the station was profitable all along, the programming improved significantly in the late 1970s. Becoming a superstation WVBE remained the clear leader in the market for the next two decades. During the 1970s and 1980s, the station was carried on many cable providers in central and southwestern Florida. In the 1980s, It billed itself as "The Treasure Coast's Super Station", which "Covered The Treasure Coast Like The Sun". There was also some consideration to put WVBE on cable in Tallahassee, but that never came to fruition. WVBE was one of the most profitable independent stations in the country. In fact, during the late 1970s, Ted Turner called the station to ask how WVBE made itself so profitable. It is believed that WTBS in Atlanta modeled its programming format after WVBE. The switch to The WB Through the early 1990s, WVBE still was running mostly cartoons (both old and recent), classic and recent sitcoms, drama series and older movies. WVBE gained a network affiliation for the first time when it became a charter affiliate of the Warner Bros. Television Network, aligning itself with The WB at its launch on January 11, 1995, branding itself as "The WB Channel 38". As WVBE continued to program a traditional independent format during the day, with WB programming being shown during the primetime hours. WVBE also aired Kids' WB programs starting in the fall of that year. Tribune purchased the station in the spring of 1996. The purchase by Tribune made WVBE a WB owned-and-operated station, becoming the first network-owned station in the Port St. Lucie market. Soon after taking control, Tribune changed WVBE's on-air branding to "WB38", which remained in use for the remainder of The WB's run. By the late 1990s, older sitcoms and older cartoons made way for talk shows, court shows, and reality programs during the daytime. Recent cartoons (such as Monster Rancher, Sailor Moon, Garfield and Friends and Hercules: The Animated Series), and recent sitcoms (such as Charles in Charge, Step by Step, Family Matters, Roseanne, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, and Friends) continued to air but movies also were eliminated almost completely. For one day in May 1999, WVBE housed the operations for WPSL, after a power outage occurred at that station's main studios in Downtown Tampa. There were rumors that the E. W. Scripps Company would purchase WVBE from Tribune, which would have created a duopoly with ABC affiliate WFTP. However, the station remains owned by CBS Corporation. On July 21, 2016, CBS Corporation sold the station to Adelphia Communications. Adelphia turned over operations of the station to Clear Channel, and WVBE became an affiliate of MyTV. Programming Schedule Category:Channel 38 Category:MyNetworkTV affiliated stations Category:Port St. Lucie, FL Category:Florida Category:Former WB network affiliates Category:Television channels and Stations established in 1976 Category:Fort Pierce Category:MyTV affiliated stations Category:Adelphia Communications Category:Clear Channel Communications Category:Dual-affiliated stations